


On Your Mark

by allmylovesatonce



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, Soulmates AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 13:32:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8491675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmylovesatonce/pseuds/allmylovesatonce
Summary: Soulmates AU:
Amy is tired of having her boyfriends leave her because they found their soulmates. She decides it's time to find her own soulmate. Her friends are more or less helpful.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So I'd read a bunch of soulmates fics recently and couldn't get the idea out of my head. So here is my take on it!

When Amy Santiago was a teenager, she would spend long moments staring at her mark in the mirror. She found it almost ironic that it laid right over her heart. Of course her mother always said it was because she wore her heart on her sleeve. Somehow as she got older, that faded. Not her mark of course, that was there forever. But she stopped wearing her heart on her sleeve. Being hurt too many times left her doubting herself, and even doubting her mark.

She went through phases where she didn’t even care about the mark. She wasn’t actively looking for her soulmate anyway. She’d find people who weren’t actively looking for theirs either. And for a while they’d have a good time. She knew well enough though to not let her guard down. Sure enough when she would start to get serious about them, they’d find the other person with their mark.

She had her moments when she desperately wanted to find her soulmate. Who didn’t have those moments? But once she started working, those moments became fewer and fewer. She had too much else on her mind to worry about her stupid soulmate. He’d find her if it was meant to be.

She transferred to the Nine-Nine and began working as a detective. She was a damn good detective, too. She loved her job and she loved the people she worked with. And sometimes that made her long for love in other parts of her life. She didn’t need a soulmate to be happy. And luckily for her, Teddy thought so too.

They were both cops and met on the job. It was perfect. He loved so many of the same things as she did. Jake would often joke that they got along because they were both nerds. She and Teddy seemed really happy together. It had been 7 months and without even realizing it, she’d let her guard down. She should have expected it, given how happy she was with him. Amy should have known he’d find her soon enough. But her guard was down. So to hear him break it to her that he’d found his soulmate, well that hit her like a truck.

She was back to square 1. Back to zero. Left alone. _Again_. It was honestly the Amy Santiago story. She never found the one. And a lot of times she figured she never would. What was the point of having a soulmate if she was never able to find him? What if her mark was just a tease? Breaking up with Teddy was probably the most miserable she’d ever been. If she’d only seen it coming, she could have spared herself some of the heartbreak.

Amy wouldn’t let herself wallow in her misery for too long. She was not the type of woman to be depressed because of a guy. She had a lot going for her and she didn’t need a man. It was a temporary shock but she was going to get over it. She may not need a man, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t determined now to find one. Well, specifically, _the_ one.

Amy strolled into work confidently on Monday, dressed in her favorite pantsuit, favorite coffee in hand. She was in a good mood and she was determined to begin her search. She was going to find her soulmate. She didn’t even notice that her desk mate had actually beaten her to work that morning.

“Well you certainly look perky for a woman who just got dumped a week ago,” Jake stated as he looked up to see her sitting at her desk.

She smiled sarcastically at him. “Well you certainly look early for someone who always runs late,” Amy replied playfully.

Jake just grinned. “I never left.”

Amy appraised him, tilting her head. “You don’t look like you slept here.”

“I figured sleeping on Holt’s couch would be a no-go so I found a pillow and cot and slept for a few hours in the file room. It was not the worst night of sleep I’ve ever had,” Jake explained. “So if you see me nodding off and you see Holt coming out of his office, I’m gonna need you to wake me up. Will you accept that challenge?” Jake asked with a grin.

Amy smirked back. “Of course. But you realize I’ll wake you up by throwing something at you, right?”

Jake threw his hands up in the air and turned back to his computer. “I’ll take what I can get.”

__

 A few hours later, Amy spotted Terry in the break room. She looked around and it seemed like everyone else was busy with work. She jumped up from her chair and ran in there before anyone could join him. Amy sat down directly in front of the sergeant.

“Hey Amy, what’s up?” Sarge asked cheerfully.

“Well to be honest, I have a kind of awkward question for you,” Amy began.

Jake shot up into a sitting position on the couch. Amy hadn’t even noticed him lying there. “Oh yes! I love awkward questions. Especially Santiago ones!”

Amy huffed. “Jake what are you doing in here?”

“Amy, I told you I didn’t sleep that much last night,” Jake explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well could you leave?” Amy asked.

“Nope. Last I checked this is a public space. It is for all employees to use, Detective,” Jake replied annoyingly.

“Just ask me whatever you needed to ask me, Amy,” Terry urged.

Amy sighed and looked back at Terry. “Okay. How did you know you and Sharon were soulmates?”

“Oh God!” Jake whined. “If you wanted me out of here that badly, you should have just said so.” He stood up covering his ears.  
Amy glared at him. “I did say so.”

“Yuck,” Jake added as he walked out of the break room.

Amy shook her head, very clearly annoyed with Jake. Terry reached out and patted her arm. “Is this about Teddy?” he asked softly.

Amy sighed. “No. Well, not really. I just don’t get how for some people it’s so easy to find their soulmates and for others it’s impossible.”

“No one really knows how it works. I always believed that it would just happen when it was supposed to,” Terry answered. “Some people hunt for their soulmate. They have pictures of their mark everywhere trying to find the person who recognizes it. But for me and Sharon, it happened pretty simply.” He smiled as he remembered how it happened. “We were at a party and I was about to leave. I was saying goodbye to a friend and she saw it on my neck as I turned my head.” He pointed at his neck for emphasis. “She gasped and ran at me, pulled back her hair and showed me hers. We didn’t even know each other’s names yet. But when she grabbed me, I knew something special was happening,” He explained with a smile.

Amy couldn’t help but smile back. “That’s a really sweet story.”

Terry just smiled and nodded. “Have you ever heard Captain Holt’s story?” Terry asked, leaning in closer. Amy whipped her head back to make sure he wasn’t close and then she leaned in closer to Terry. “So they met over the phone, you know, because Kevin was interviewing Captain Holt. So then they met up in person and when they went to shake hands, they saw their mark on each other’s thumbs.”

Amy clutched at her chest. “Oh wow. I love that!”

Terry nodded. “You see Amy, you never know when you’re gonna meet the someone who will complete you. I mean who knows, maybe you’ve already met them,” he said with a grin.

She chuckled and shook her head disbelievingly. “I can’t imagine who it would even be if I’ve already met them,” Amy said with a shudder.

Just then Jake crept back in, “Don’t mind me, I forgot my pillow.”

Amy gaped at him as he grabbed it and rounded the table. “Seriously? You’re at work.” Amy rolled her eyes and looked at Terry exasperatedly.

He just shrugged. “Sometimes there’s only so much you can do.”

__

It was a Thursday morning when Boyle showed up for work two hours late. He couldn’t seem to wipe the joy off his face. Everyone was staring at him as he sat down and attempted to get to work. Jake looked over at Amy with a concerned look. While Boyle tended to look on the bright side of things, this was a whole new level. Gina and Rosa both came over to Amy and Jake’s desks.

“What do we think is up with Boyle?” Rosa quietly asked first.

Jake glanced over at Boyle and then back to the group. “I don’t know.” He looked thoughtful. Suddenly his eyes got big. “Do you think Eleanor died?” The four of them all looked back at Charles.

“No,” Amy disagreed. “He wouldn’t be this joyful over the death of his ex-wife.”

“I don’t know, Ames, do you remember his divorce?” Jake added with a knowing stare.

“No, because that was right before I got here,” Amy reminded him.

“Well do you remember what that was like?” Jake asked.

Rosa interrupted. “I agree with Amy. This doesn’t seem like that. It has to be something else. Maybe he got laid.”

“No,” Gina disagreed. “He doesn’t seem _this_ happy when he has sex.”

Amy laughed. “Well Gina would know.”

Jake burst out laughing. “Oh! Nice one!” He reached across their desks to high five her. She was still laughing as she slapped his hand.

Gina snapped her fingers at them. “Hey, no. That was a one-time _disaster_ and we all agreed we would never speak of it again after that damn blabber mouth spilled it to you all.”

Their laughter was enough to break Charles from his concentration. He walked over to the group perkily. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh nothing,” Amy said, waving it off.

“You just had to be there,” Jake agreed.

Charles nodded with a smile.

“Actually, Boyle,” Rosa spoke up, “We want to know what’s wrong with you today.”

Boyle shook his head happily. “Oh nothing is wrong with me today, Rosa.”

“Well something’s off. You’re never this happy,” Gina informed him.

“That’s because I’ve never felt this whole before,” Charles stated.

“What does that mean?” Jake asked.

“Guys,” Charles started. He paused, grabbing Jake and Rosa’s hands. Jake looked weirded out and Rosa yanked hers back. Charles was oblivious to it all. “I found her.”

“Oh that’s great! You found that criminal you were looking for!” Jake cheered. Amy snickered.

Charles shook his head. “Oh no, my case is incredibly stalled out. But I did find…the one.”

“Oh?” Gina asked, seemingly intrigued.

“Yeah, her name is Genevieve and she’s perfect. We met each other buying takoyaki last night,” Charles said dreamily.

“Ew, is that some sort of sex toy?” Gina asked.

Amy and Jake both winced. “No it’s not. It’s gross seafood that Boyle likes to eat. He says it’s delicious but he also is a liar,” Jake said, visibly disgusted.

“She is so perfect, you guys. I am over the moon. Over the freaking moon.”

“That’s great, Charles!” Amy cheered. She was happy for Boyle, but she was also a bit bitter it wasn’t her.

“What are the five of you doing?” Captain Holt interrupted.

“Oh Sir, Boyle found his soulmate last night,” Jake informed the newcomer.

Holt looked over at Boyle, nodding once. “Congratulations. Now all of you get back to work.”

__

Amy was sitting alone in the break room later, thinking about Boyle’s chance encounter. Terry’s story had been a chance encounter. As had Holt’s. In the back of her mind she registered that Teddy’s had been too. Her mark was on her chest. What if Terry was right and she had met her soulmate already? She’d have no way of knowing. What if her mark was on her chest because she was never going to find her soulmate? What if it was supposed to reside over her heart as a joke?

Jake walked in as she stared into space. He walked over to the vending machine. It wasn’t until she heard a soda fall down that she snapped out of her trance. “Someone is thinking pretty deeply right now,” Jake said, acknowledging her trance.

She turned to look at him as he sat down with her. “Just thinking,” she replied with a shrug.

“About…?” Jake pressed.

“You don’t want to know,” Amy assured him.

“Yes I do. You are my partner and my friend and whatever is on your mind, I want to hear it,” Jake said grandly. He popped open his soda and stared at her until she broke.

“Fine. I was thinking about Boyle meeting his soulmate,” Amy admitted.

“Oh God,” Jake sighed.

“See! I told you that you didn’t want to know!”

“Why are you so obsessed with this, Amy?”

Amy threw out her arms. “Why is it such a crazy thing to be obsessed with?”

“Because it’s lame!” Jake exclaimed.

“How is it lame?” Amy argued.

“Because there are better things to worry about than something that’s out of your control,” Jake reasoned.

“Well that may be true, but it doesn’t make it just wipe from my mind. I mean think about Gina! Her mark is posted on every social media platform she’s on. Even online dating profiles. It’s normal for people to want to know who they’re supposed to spend their lives with!”

Jake just shrugged and took another drink from his soda. “I still think it’s dumb.”

Amy slapped her hands on the table and turned in her chair to face him. He looked startled. “Well you know what, Jake, I used to think it was dumb too. That was until I realized that I would probably date every man on the damn planet and help them all find their soulmates while never finding mine. My life is basically the movie Good Luck Chuck.”

Jake choked on his drink. “You’ve seen that movie?”

Amy groaned. “That’s not the point, Jake. My point is that I eventually hit the point where I wanted to take fate into my own hands and find him myself because it is too hard dating someone and watching them leave you to spend their lives with someone else.” She finished with a sigh.

They sat there in silence. Eventually Jake reached over and patted her on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, Amy. I know your break up with Teddy was pretty hard. Harder than you really let on.”

Amy hung her head a little before turning it to look at Jake. “It was my own fault,” she said quietly.

“How? What, did you send him for coffee that morning?” Jake asked.

“No. But I let my guard down. I let myself think I could actually be happy.”

“You still can be happy. You don’t have to be with your soulmate to be happy. You’re a catch, Santiago,” Jake said and Amy glared at him. “You don’t have to marry your soulmate to get married,” he reminded her.

“Oh yeah, because I want to be Charles and have my spouse leave me because they found their soulmate. No thank you,” Amy replied.

“Who knows? Maybe years later you could find him over octopus balls,” Jake mused as he stood up to leave.

“Eww. That’s what that is?” Amy asked. Jake just nodded with a full body shiver as he left the room.

__

Weeks had passed. Amy’s mind had dwelled on her soulmate so many times she’d lost count. She tried to focus on work but even sometimes that led her back to thinking about her stupid soulmate. The last case she and Jake had solved was a pretty big reminder.

The victim was shot. After a pretty quick investigation, they found the guy. They proudly brought him into the precinct, leading him to an interrogation room. Jake led the interrogation, while Amy sat there scowling at the perp. He was pretty quick to fess up.

“So why’d you shoot Hunter Dosanto?”

“He was sleeping with my soulmate!” The man exclaimed.

Amy and Jake both groaned but for very different reasons. “Really?” Jake asked.

The man held out his arm as best he could while cuffed to the table. He pointed toward his forearm where the familiar shading of his mark resided. “She has this too. She’s my soulmate. I finally found her. But she was sleeping with that jerk. So I had to take him out so I could be with her.”

“You realize that your plan is flawed because now you won’t be with her, you’ll be in prison,” Jake reminded him.

“Whatever. You clearly know nothing about love,” the perp spat.

Jake professionally waited until they were outside the interrogation room to burst out laughing. “Oh my God. That was ridiculous! Wasn’t it?” Amy just shrugged. Jake gaped at her. “How are you not dying laughing?”

“I don’t know,” Amy said noncommittally.

The amusement disappeared from his face. “It’s the soulmate thing, isn’t it?” He shook his head. “I need to go tell someone this story who will laugh appropriately with me.”

Amy followed him into the bullpen. “Attention everyone,” Jake called. “I have _the_ best reason for killing someone, courtesy of the perp Santiago and I brought in not fifteen minutes ago.” He cleared his throat for effect. “He shot a man because the man was sleeping with his soulmate.”

“Crime of passion. That’s pretty typical,” Rosa reasoned. Amy nodded and pointed at Rosa, showing Jake it wasn’t so crazy.

“What? No. He’d met her once. She wasn’t cheating on him,” Jake explained.

“I don’t know, I might get it,” Charles offered.

Jake glared at him. “Seriously, Charles?”

Charles shrugged. “Rational thought goes out the window when you find your soulmate, Jakey.”

“Oh my God,” Jake muttered. He pointed at Charles. “You were married to your wife when she found her soulmate. What if Hercules had shot you?”

Charles shook his head. “Hercules would never do that. He’s actually a very nice man.” Jake glared at Charles. “Okay fine, Jake’s right. It would be a little crazy.”

“Thank you!” Jake exclaimed. “Thank you!”

__

Jake found Amy a bit later in the evidence lockup. Maybe he knew she’d been avoiding him. Or maybe he was just being Jake and he couldn’t leave well enough alone. “Hey, what are you doing in here?”

“Filing evidence. That is what this room is for, isn’t it?” Amy answered, maybe a bit harshly.

“Whoa. What was that? Are you mad at me?” Jake asked, stepping closer to her.

She shrugged, not looking at him. “I’m fine.”

He took the box out of her hand, setting it on the pile in front of them. He turned her toward him. “What’s wrong?”

She denied it again. “It’s nothing, Jake. Honestly, you wouldn’t get it anyway.”

“What the hell does that mean?” He almost sounded offended.

She sighed. She finally looked at him. “Jake, do you realize you can be pretty insensitive sometimes?” She inquired.

He stared at her dumbfounded. “What? What is this about the soulmate thing from earlier?”

She threw her hands out as she yelled. “Yes it’s about the soulmate thing! You just completely ridicule anyone who might even mention the concept of it. And it’s incredibly rude.”

“Amy –” Jake started. Amy interrupted him.

“You don’t get it, Jake. I know that you don’t give a rip about finding your soulmate and that’s great for you but some of us want to. Some of us want that hope that there is actually someone out there who wants us. Some of us are sick of waiting for it to happen so we want to look for it ourselves but we have no idea how. And some people only tell a few people that they even care about their soulmate. And it’s not fun when one of those people consistently throws it back in their face and makes fun of them for it.”

Jake stared at her for a long time. His voice was very quiet when he actually spoke. “I’m sorry, Amy.” She just shook her head. “I tend to shove that kind of stuff off me because it’s easier. But you feel everything. And I’m sorry that I have been acting like a jerk. Truly. If you want help or something, I’m a very good detective, and I bet I could help you,” he concluded with a grin.

She gave him a small smile and single nod.

He cleared his throat. “And if you need to talk to someone about it, I’m here for that too. No more ridicule. I promise.”

“Thanks, Jake.”

Jake turned to leave but he paused by the door. “You’ll find him, Amy. One way or another, you will. You’re too determined not to.”

__

It’s always an exhilarating feeling to be handed a huge case. It’s exciting to be one of the people attached to a case so grand that it may end up in articles and news stories and recognition from the city. Sure, it’s also a lot of pressure, but to Amy, it can also lead to a lot of excitement. And sure enough, she and Jake just got handed another big one.

“Surveillance has already been completed. You’ll be living in the same building and you’ll watch and wait for the opportune moment to make the bust,” Captain Holt informed them.

“Wait, if they already did surveillance, why didn’t they just make the bust?” Jake asked.

“He was expecting cops,” Sarge explained. “He’s really good at covering his tracks.”

Jake and Amy nodded. “But he likely won’t be expecting new neighbors to bust him,” Holt added. “You two will live in the apartment in the same building, while keeping an eye on him and finding the best time to make the bust.”

“Do we have a relief team in place? You know, in case Amy decides she’s ready to kill me,” Jake joked. Amy chuckled.

“No. Since you’ll be his neighbors, you’ll be allowed to come and go,” the captain explained.

“What if one day we leave and we miss a deal?” Amy asked.

“Then you wait for the next one,” Captain Holt said.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Amy stated.

“This case is a long one,” Terry informed them. “You’re basically going undercover and on a stakeout at the same time. This guy is just tricky. So if you don’t see _every_ deal, it’s okay.”

“It’s probably better if you let a few slide. You’ll have to figure out his pattern,” Holt added.

“Surveillance couldn’t do that?” Jake asked.

“Like we said, he’s tricky,” Terry stated.

__

Amy stared around the room. In a matter of hours, the room had gone from completely empty to actually livable. It looked like she and Jake really lived there. Boxes were there to add the effect of just moving in. The place was all around one of the better stakeout locations she’d ever experienced.

She walked over to the kitchen where Jake was filling a glass of water. He passed her one too. He lifted his in a toast. “To living together,” he toasted jokingly. Amy laughed and clinked glasses with him. After taking a drink, Jake surveyed the apartment. “I guess it was nice of them to get us a two bedroom.” Amy nodded.

She walked over and flopped down on the oversized couch they’d provided. Jake joined her. “I’m sorry that you’ll have to spend your nights here rather than out finding Mr. Right,” Jake said after a while of them sitting in silence. From the way he said it, he seemed like he was being genuine.

Amy shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s not really going anywhere anyway.”

Jake adjusted his position and looked at her. “Don’t tell me you’re giving up.”

Amy shook her head humoredly at him. “Since when do you care?”

“I don’t know. Since a while ago when you yelled at me and made me feel like an asshole,” he said nonchalantly.

“I’m sorry to make you feel bad,” Amy said. “But on the other hand, you were kinda being an asshole.”

“Well I am sorry,” Jake said.

They sat there in silence again for a minute or two before Amy spoke again. “I think I just have to be like Terry or Charles or Captain Holt. I just have to go about my life and not actively pursue them. Because it’s clearly not working. And they all just went about their lives and then boom they found their soulmate.”

Jake sat forward so quickly, Amy thought she felt the couch move. He turned to her with a very serious look on his face. “You know Holt and Kevin’s story?”

Amy laughed out loud. “I thought you didn’t care about soulmates.”

“I mean I don’t, but come on, who wouldn’t want to know about Holt and Kevin’s story? That has to be amazing.”

“I guess I’m just better friends with Holt than you are,” Amy said smugly, taking a sip from her glass.

Jake glared at her. “Nope. That’s not true. Holt and I are homies.” Amy died laughing. Jake had to smack her arm to get her to quiet down. “How’d you hear it?”

Amy wiped away the tears that were leaking out of her eyes. “Terry told me. But I had you going for a minute there. You were worried I was Holt’s favorite.”

“Nope. I always knew it was me,” Jake assured her.

“You just think it is,” Amy laughed.

__

They were several days into this assignment. They still hadn’t really figured out the dealer’s pattern. Maybe there just wasn’t a pattern at all. Amy sighed as she watched the feed they’d secretly set up. They’d projected it on their TV so it just seemed like they were a normal couple watching TV at night.

“This is pointless,” Amy sighed, exasperated.

Jake was clanking something around in the kitchen. She thought he might be attempting to make dinner. “They said it would be a hard case. Okay, let’s talk ideas for his pattern.”

Amy groaned. “We’ve done that the last three nights. Forget that. Let’s talk about literally anything else.”

“Wow, I would not have expected this from Amy Santiago. Shirking work?” Jake asked with a devilish grin.

“I’m not shirking work because we’re both still here. It’s just annoying. Why can’t we just bust him?”

“He only does so many deals in a week. What if we aren’t successful with our plan and he covers his tracks and then we don’t have enough evidence to put him away?” Jake explained.

“Ugh, stop that!” Amy whined. Jake gaped at her. “Stop being the rational one. It’s weird.”

Jake laughed. “Well apparently one of us has to.” Amy glared at him as she walked over to the kitchen. “Look if you want to just take the night off, just go to bed. I’ll keep an eye out.”

Amy was confused. “It’s like 8:00.”

“Oh I thought that was your bedtime. Isn’t that when all grandmas go to bed?” Jake asked, unable to hide his grin.

“You jerk!” Amy grabbed the nearest thing to her to throw at him.

“A dinner roll? Really? Come on, Amy. Let’s not waste food,” Jake joked, barely speaking through his laughter.

He stared at her as he stopped laughing. They were both eyeing each other. Amy saw the spark in his eye probably right as he saw the spark in hers. They lunged for the bag of rolls at the same time. The bag tore open down the side as they tried to rip it from the other’s hands. They were picking rolls up off the floor and pelting each other with them. Amy ducked behind the island and peeked up to hit him with one. As she did, he hit the top of her head with one too.

The rolls weren’t doing enough for her. She ran over to the sink and turned on the faucet. She reached quickly for the hose and Jake froze in his tracks. “Don’t you dare,” he said simply. A devious grin broke out on her face. She sprayed him. He screamed comically and tried to get away from her. The kitchen was getting drenched but Amy was having too much fun to care.

Jake ran to the fridge and was kind of hiding behind the door. She changed her angle and started getting him again. He grabbed something and flipped the top off of it. Amy registered the yellow bottle in his hand right before he squeezed it at her. Mustard covered her hair and down the front of her. Amy screamed and released the hose.

“Seriously, Jake? Mustard?” Amy cried.

Jake laughed nervously as he walked toward her. “I’ve heard it’s good for the skin…” he lied as he wiped some off her face. “And to be clear, _you_ started this.”

She scoffed. “Whatever. That doesn’t warrant _this_ ,” she exclaimed, motioning to her front covered in mustard.

“Okay maybe not,” Jake conceded, “but I am _soaked_ from your bright idea.”

Amy stared at Jake. He was right; he was soaked. She looked down at her shirt and back at him. She giggled to herself. She looked up at his confused face. “I have a really big urge to hug you right now.”

He quickly ran to the other side of the island from her. “No! Stay away from me, you…Mustard Monster!” He cried. Amy was tempted to run after him until she covered him in the mess he’d made. But the smell of mustard was pretty revolting.

She held her hands up in surrender. “It’s fine. I need to go shower anyway. Have fun cleaning all of this up,” she said with a smirk. She rubbed some mustard off her shirt and rubbed it on his face as she passed him. He scoffed loudly. She couldn’t help but smile thinking about everything that had just happened. It was just like Jake to take her from being in a grumpy mood to not being able to wipe a smile off her face.

__

Jake looked over as Amy walked toward the bathroom. He looked back at the mess they’d made and he sighed. Amy was certainly one to keep him on his toes. In a million years, he’d never have expected Amy to start and escalate a food fight on property that wasn’t even theirs. He smiled to himself as he reached for some towels to clean up all the water. He probably wasn’t helping the cleaning much because everywhere he went, he dripped.

Jake quickly changed out of his wet clothes before going back to cleaning the kitchen. The rolls he’d bought were soaked and useless. What a waste. But getting to hear Amy laugh as hard as she did made up for it. He’d hated to see her so down. She was annoyed by their case and annoyed with life in general it seemed. He tried to do what he could to make her smile. Especially after she called him out for being a jerk. He’d hated himself for making her feel bad.

He wished she wasn’t so soulmate obsessed though. He didn’t get it. Knowing your soulmate doesn’t guarantee anything. He couldn’t care less about finding his soulmate. It wasn’t going to stop him from being happy. Jake’s job kept him pretty pleased with his life. Sure most of the girls he had dated in the past had been very distant because he wasn’t their soulmate, but it didn’t bother him. He didn’t really feel like he was missing anything by not knowing the identity of his soulmate.

He was willing to play along for Amy though. She meant too much to him to tease her anymore. Sure, he still teased her when she did something that warranted teasing. But he wasn’t going to needlessly mess with her anymore. He could see how it grated on her and then he felt like a jerk.

He cared about Amy. A lot. Probably more than he should. When they met and became partners, they were rather combative with each other. It was good natured, sure, but he wouldn’t have immediately called them friends. Friends came after months of working hard cases together that just took something out of them. They’d been friends for a long time. It was the caring and the feelings that sprung up on him recently. Well, not really recently. He could pinpoint when it started.

He’d obviously cared for Amy before the feelings came in. But he cared for her as a partner or friend. He didn’t even realize there could be more to the way he felt about her. That is until she met Teddy. She came back so giddy after she met him. Jake felt something shift in his stomach. He felt uneasy. And for the longest time he had no clue why. It wasn’t like Amy dating someone new would really change their partnership dynamic. It wasn’t until a couple months later when she was talking about some trip they were going to go on that he realized why he couldn’t really stand Teddy. He realized why every time Amy brought up his name, it made Jake irrationally on edge. It was because he liked her.

He’d spent months trying to ignore his feelings. They were great as partners and as friends and there was no way he was going to ruin that. He also wanted Amy to be happy. And if Teddy made her happy, he figured he had to be okay with that.

But then Teddy didn’t make her happy anymore. Because he left her. And Jake waited to talk to Amy. After all those months, he still wasn’t sure how to express how he felt. He also didn’t want to put her in a weird place right after a break up. Right around the time he felt like maybe he should finally say something, she dropped the soulmate bomb. She was desperate to find hers. So once again, Jake was back to hiding how much he really cared for her. Sometimes it was hard and sometimes it made him act like a jerk.  He was mad at the whole concept of soulmates. It had lost him his chance with Amy before he’d even asked for it.

He’d finished up cleaning the kitchen and was checking on the feed when Amy walked out of the bathroom, her hair wrapped in a towel. “Shower’s all yours,” she cheered as she surveyed the kitchen.

“Thanks, but I already got my shower today,” he joked.

She laughed as she walked over to him. “Anything happening over here?” she asked.

Jake stared at the TV screen as he zipped through the coverage. “Nope. Nothing.” They got back to the current feed and they both gasped. A deal was happening right then.

“Maybe tonight wasn’t a bust after all,” Amy said, leaning toward the TV, her hand on Jake’s shoulder. It was all he could do not to jump when she placed it there.

“And check for this day and date,” Jake said, mainly to himself.

Amy looked over and appraised him. “You have a theory don’t you?”

Jake smirked. “I do. But I don’t want to jinx it yet.”

Amy nodded understandingly. She bent down and pulled the towel off her head. Her wet hair flipped back down her back as she stood back up. Jake was practically transfixed by the sight. She walked back to the bathroom to hang up her towel before coming back and flopping down on the couch. He sat down next to her.

“So since the deal already went down for tonight, do you want to turn this off and actually watch something?” she asked.

Jake looked over and smiled. “Sure.”

Amy looked at the TV and then back at him. She got a huge smile on her face. “I have an idea. Close your eyes.”

Jake was taken aback. “Excuse me?”

“Not in a weird way. Just cover your eyes,” Amy insisted.

Jake hesitantly raised his hands over his eyes. He could hear her clicking buttons on the remote next to him. Suddenly he heard the beginning of his favorite movie. He uncovered his face and looked at her. She looked pretty proud of herself. He shook his head in amazement. “My God you’re amazing,” he said with a laugh.

She nodded, still smiling. “I know.” She sank lower into the couch. He followed her lead. They were sitting pretty close to each other. Jake wondered to himself if this is what living with Amy would really be like.

__

Amy sat in the break room, drinking a quick cup of coffee. She and Jake were taking a bit of a break from the apartment and the case. So naturally they came back to do more work. Terry and Charles both walked into the room. Charles poured himself coffee and Terry sat down next to Amy. Jake walked in once he spotted Charles.

“So Amy, how is it basically living with Jake?” Terry asked with a smirk. Jake’s head whipped in her direction to hear her response.

Amy smirked as well. “Well I’d have to say, it’s not as terrible as I would have expected.”

“Wow. Such a nice comment on our time together. Thanks, Amy,” Jake said sarcastically.

Amy was of course teasing him. It actually hadn’t been bad. She always had a lot of fun with Jake. Sometimes he was a manchild and she felt like she just had to constantly rein him in. But lately he’d been so great. She always loved working cases with Jake because he just had a certain vivacity he brought to a case. He brought a new way of thinking about it. When they worked cases, they got things done.

But there was also something else. She didn’t want to say that she liked Jake. But the more time she spent with him, particularly cooped up in an apartment together, she couldn’t totally rule it out. He was kind to her. He made her laugh when she needed to. He knew when she was getting overwhelmed and she needed a distraction. There was just an easiness between them that she’d never really experienced with anyone else.

Sure, they teased each other relentlessly, but it was never mean spirited. She knew Jake wouldn’t do that. She’d just felt so comfortable with him lately. It made her wonder why. Why did she feel so close to Jake, so comfortable just being with him? She couldn’t really explain it completely. But living with Jake was actually pretty nice.

She couldn’t actually tell that to the squad though.

Terry leaned closer to Amy, trying to not be overheard by Charles and Jake who were having their own conversation. “So how is that, uh, search going for you?”   

Amy shrugged. “Not really taking off. But whatever. I just don’t get how when you’re actually ready and wanting to find them you can’t.”

Charles turned toward them. “What’s this? What are you doing?”

Amy sighed. “I’ve been…kind of trying to find my soulmate. I got tired of waiting.”

Charles gasped and sat down at the table next to her. “Really? And?”

“And nothing,” Amy repeated. “It’s kind of hard to search for one specific person when they could be anywhere in the world.”

Charles and Terry nodded understandingly. Jake surprised her by speaking up. “Ahh, I remember that time.”

Amy was confused. “What time?”

“The one time I actively searched for my soulmate.”

Charles’s eyes grew. “What? Tell me!”

Jake laughed at Charles’s face. “Well obviously I didn’t find her. But it was about a year out of the academy and I was on the streak to end all streaks. It seemed like everything I touched turned gold. It was amazing. So I figured I’d try it out in my personal life and find my soulmate.”

“I thought you didn’t care about finding your soulmate?” Amy asked.

Jake shrugged. “Oh I don’t, but I just figured I’d see what happened. And let me tell you, I met some weird people. My streak did not carry over to my personal life. But during my search I did formally meet the woman who would one day transfer me to the Nine-Nine. So, whatever that means…”

Charles gasped. “I bet it means you’ll meet your soulmate through work.”

Jake shook his head. “Nah, I think it just meant that I should not be hanging out at the same bars as the higher ups. That’s a good way to avoid a promotion.” He pushed away from the counter and walked back to his desk.

Charles turned to Terry and Amy. “We need to find Jake his soulmate!”

Amy shook her head. “He doesn’t care.”

“Oh he’s just saying that. Everyone cares. We just need to find his one,” Charles said as if it would be so easy.

Gina walked in on the tail end of Charles’s comment. “What’s going on?”

Amy rolled her eyes. “Charles wants to find Jake’s soulmate for him.”

“Oh well that will be especially hard to do,” Gina replied.

“Why?” Terry asked.

“Because Jake doesn’t have a mark,” Gina answered.

“What?” They all exclaimed. Gina sat down in the fourth chair and nodded.

“Come on, everybody has a mark whether they want to find their soulmate or not,” Terry argued.

“Oh I know. But that’s what he swears,” Gina remarked.

“Well you guys have been friends forever, haven’t you ever seen his mark?” Charles interrogated.

Gina shook her head. “Nope. Never have laid eyes on it.”

“Maybe it’s on a really weird part of his body and he just hasn’t found it yet,” Charles mused.

Amy and Gina both winced at that. “Really? Over 20 years later you think he hasn’t found his mark? He’s a detective…” Amy replied.

Gina leaned further into the table. The rest of them mirrored her. “Jake was not super interested in his mark or even getting one when the time would have come that he got it,” Gina dished. “His dad left right before his 11th birthday. His parents were soulmates and his dad left. So Jake’s ‘soulmates are lame’ attitude dates back over twenty years. So when we asked him if he got his mark, he just said no. None of us ever stripped him down to verify it.”

Amy felt terrible. It all clicked. “Wow. I mean that makes sense. Why believe in soulmates and true love when it didn’t even work out for your parents?” She thought out loud.

They all silently nodded their heads.

Charles was the first to speak again. “Well I don’t care. I’m going to find his soulmate. I’m going to bring love back into his life!”

Amy shook her head at Charles.

Jake stuck his head in the door. “Hey, Santiago! Five minute warning. We need to head back to the house. Chop chop!”

“Yes, Sir!” Amy said, pretending to take his orders.

He pointed at her. “I know you said that mockingly, but I liked it. So…” he said with a wink. She scrunched her nose disgustedly and shook her head at him as she stood up and followed him out of the break room.

__

Amy and Jake sat on the couch watching the feed later that night. Amy turned and looked at Jake. “Just giving you a heads up,” she started. Jake looked over at her. “Charles is now bound and determined to find your soulmate.”

Jake groaned. “Ugh, why?”

“I don’t know,” Amy responded. “I guess because when you’re happy, you want your friends to be happy too.”

“Who said I won’t be happy without my soulmate?” Jake argued.

“Society,” Amy said with a laugh.

After a long pause between them, Jake spoke again. “I’m not just some monster who doesn’t believe in it, you know.”

Amy turned to look at him again. “What?”

“Soulmates,” he explained. “It’s not that I want to rain on other people’s parades. I just don’t see the point of it. Just because someone is your soulmate doesn’t mean they’re incapable of hurting you. You talked about having your guard down with Teddy. That’s what life would be like with a soulmate. You found them so you finally let your guard down again. But that doesn’t mean they’ll never hurt you. Or leave.”

Amy stared at him. She wondered what she’d done to inspire his speech. Or his trust. “Jake –”

“It was my parents. It was when I was a kid. They were “soulmates,”” he said with air quotes around soulmates. “But that didn’t stop my dad from ditching us. He walked out on his soulmate and his own kid. So since then, I never really held much stock in the whole soulmates concept. It just seems too good to be true. The idea that there’s one person out there who is meant for you, who will always be there, who will never hurt you it’s just not realistic. People hurt each other. People leave.”

Amy reached out and laid her hand on Jake’s arm comfortingly. “Have you ever thought that maybe your dad was just a jerk?” she asked hesitantly.

Jake chuckled as he nodded. “All the time.” He looked over at her guiltily. “Sorry to kind of unload on you.”

She smiled sweetly and patted his arm. “Don’t be. Thank you for trusting me enough to actually talk about it.”

He didn’t reply, but he did place his hand over Amy’s where it laid on his arm.

__

“Damn it!” Jake whined from the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?”

“I dropped mayo on my t-shirt.”

Amy turned around and looked back at him. “Just go change shirts.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Jake decided.

Amy noted the large stain. She hated mayo. She couldn’t stare at a mayo stain on his shirt without going slightly berserk. It was enough that he was messy, but why did it have to be mayo? “No, please. Can you just go change shirts? It’ll take like two seconds.”

Jake sighed and trudged over toward his room. While he was in there, Amy noted movement on the feed. She laughed loudly. “Oh Jake, you should see this! It’s date night!”

“What?” he yelled from the other room.

Amy hopped up and walked toward his room. “I think it’s date –”

She was cut off by the sight before her. She was frozen in place, staring at his chest. Well not his whole chest, just the spot right over his heart. It was the same mark she’d stared at countless times over the last twenty years. It was the same mark she’d fretted endlessly about never finding on another person. It was the same mark that told her who she was meant to spend her life with. It was the same mark that resided right over her heart. It was the mark that resided right over Jake’s heart too.

She steadied herself before he even noticed she’d been staring. She tried to calm her voice. She cleared her throat. He looked up quickly at her. “Is that…uh, is that your mark?” She tried to ask nonchalantly as she pointed to it.

Jake looked down at the mark on his chest. “Oh no,” he said with a chuckle, “That’s just a birthmark.” Amy felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. “Everyone always thinks that though,” Jake added. He quickly threw on his shirt. “Uh, so what were you saying?”

Amy turned back and looked at the TV. “Um, nothing important,” she answered, walking from his room. She felt hollow. Arguably, this is not how she expected to feel when she finally found her soulmate. In the seconds before she’d asked him about it, her mind was moving too fast to really settle on one feeling. Part of her had felt excited. Another part had felt anxious. She also had felt a bit nauseous but she figured that was from the sudden adrenaline coursing through her. But then she’d asked. Now she just felt hollow. Of course she’d find her soulmate and he’d be the one person she knew that didn’t care. The one person who would rather lie about their mark than find their soulmate.

He walked in and sat down on the opposite end of the couch. He stretched out, ready to eat his sandwich, oblivious to the internal struggle she was feeling. She couldn’t be near him right now. It was just too much for her. She stood up quickly, startling him.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Jake asked, his eyes following her.

“It’s just his date night so I’m gonna go,” Amy explained.

“What? Go where?” Jake interrogated.

“I don’t know. I just need to get out of the apartment. I’ve been here too long,” Amy answered.

Jake looked confused. “We just got back a few hours ago…”

“I don’t know. I just need to go.”

“Well do you want me to come with you? We could go get food. That would probably be better than this sandwich,” he suggested. He was already leaning forward to put his sandwich down and get up off the couch.

“No!” Amy nearly yelled. Jake looked taken aback. “I’m just gonna go by myself. I’ll be back…later,” she said before grabbing her purse and rushing off. She couldn’t help but notice Jake’s hurt face as she ran out the door.

She sat down on the stairs outside the apartment. She covered her face with her hands and felt the tears begin to fall. She should be happy that Jake is her soulmate. She could do so much worse than her best friend. He takes care of her and she relies on him already in so many ways. But why did it have to be the person so against the concept of soulmates? It was just her luck. Knowing her, she knew she’d never actually be able to admit it to him.

Once she got up off the stairs, she decided she wanted to be some place familiar and comforting. Somehow that translated into Shaw’s bar. She’d been sitting there for a while, nursing a beer (or a few) in a corner by herself. She heard Gina before she even saw her enter. She knew the rest of the squad would likely be following her. Sure enough, Terry, Rosa, and Charles followed Gina into the bar. She slid down in her seat, hoping they wouldn’t notice her.

She covertly spotted the table they picked, still trying to hide herself from them. It hadn’t been ten minutes before Rosa pulled out the chair her legs weren’t stretched across.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Should you be holed up in that apartment, pretending to live with Jake?” Amy winced at the mention of Jake’s name. “Whoa. You guys get into a fight?”

Amy shook her head. “The guy doesn’t deal on Mondays so I’m allowed to come here and drink.”

Rosa stared at Amy for an uncomfortable amount of time. “There’s something off about you.”

Amy just shrugged and pressed the bottle back to her lips, hoping alcohol would do something about the numbness inside of her.

They sat in silence, both knocking back drinks. Rosa was probably cool with the silence, but it ate at Amy. When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she sat straighter up in her chair and leaned toward Rosa.

“You know I’ve spent the last 20 years of my life imagining what it would be like to meet my soulmate. But you know something just occurred to me. What do you do if you finally meet them and they just don’t care? Every book I’ve ever read, every movie I’ve ever seen, every song that’s ever mentioned it, it always seems like such a positive experience. Like you meet this person you’re destined for and boom, happiness! But what if it’s not like that in real life. What if you aren’t Charles? What if you find the person you’re supposed to spend your life with and they just honestly don’t care that you’re their soulmate? What, are you just screwed?” Amy finally concluded.

Rosa stared at her. She looked unsure of how to proceed. “Do you want me to go get Sarge? This is more up his alley.”

Amy shook her head. “It’s whatever. This is just my life.”

Rosa looked at her curiously. “Wait, did you find your soulmate?”

Amy contemplated telling Rosa the whole story. Instead she denied it. “Nah. It’s just hypothetical. Something that would most certainly happen to me. Like if anyone was going to have an indifferent soulmate, it would be me.”

Rosa leaned forward. “Are you okay?”

Amy poured back the rest of her beer. She took a deep breath and looked at Rosa. “No.” With that she stood up to leave.

“Hey, where are you going?” Rosa asked, grabbing Amy’s arm.

Amy shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe somewhere to sleep off these feelings. And the beer.”

“Let me drive you somewhere,” Rosa offered. Amy knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer, so she nodded.

__

Jake startled awake as Amy closed the door behind her. He sat up quickly on the couch. “Where have you been? You didn’t come home last night. I got worried.”

Amy paused and stared at him on the couch. “Did you sleep on the couch?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “I kept waiting for you to come back. I texted you a few times. You never responded.”

Amy stiffened. She’d ignored his texts, not ready to face the reality of Jake yet. “Yeah, sorry about that.” She walked back toward her room.

Jake jumped off the couch to follow her. “You never said where you went last night. Where did you stay?”

Amy didn’t even turn around to address him. “You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”

Jake grabbed her arm before she went in her room. She turned to face him. “Try me.”

“I stayed at Rosa’s last night,” Amy admitted.

Jake did a double take. “What? No way. You’re right, I don’t believe you.”

Amy gave a mild smirk. “Well it’s true. I was drinking with her and I was too drunk to drive so she took me to her apartment. She’ll probably move tomorrow.” Amy walked into her room. “I’m pretty hungover, so I’m just gonna sleep for a while, okay? Bye.”

She moved to shut the door but Jake stopped her. He couldn’t erase the concern written across his face. “Are you okay, Ames?” She didn’t respond or even look at him. “You know you can talk to me, right?” She gave a noncommittal shrug/nod and shut the door. She threw herself down on her bed, wishing she could think of anything but Jake Peralta.

__

Jake could tell that something was off with Amy. He tried to do everything to make her feel better or seem happier but nothing worked. He made her coffee in the morning. Nothing but a quiet “thank you” and a blank stare. He spun theories past her, hoping she’d reciprocate. She did nothing more than say his theories sounded good. He fought every instinct in his body and kept everything as clean as possible. She didn’t even acknowledge it. He could feel their very partnership disintegrating and he had no idea why.

One day on a break from the apartment, he pulled Rosa aside at the precinct. “Hey, remember a bit over a week ago when Amy stayed at your place?” Rosa gave him a threatening look. “Don’t worry, she didn’t tell me where you live. Or even what your home looks like.” Rosa nodded approvingly. “Anyway, do you have any idea what’s been bothering her since then? She barely speaks to me anymore. Or anyone for that matter.”

Rosa looked around but Amy was nowhere in sight. “She never actually told me what was wrong. But she seemed off. Like really off. I can’t really know for sure, but I think it might have been a soulmate thing. Maybe she’s just been extra down about Teddy. Did she see him anywhere?”

Jake internally groaned at the mention of Teddy. He thought he was done talking about that tool. Jake shook his head. “She started acting weird at the apartment. Then she bolted and I’ve barely gotten to spend more than five minutes with her at a time since then. I don’t get it.”

“I don’t either. But I agree. Something’s off,” Rosa responded.

__

Amy was sitting in the briefing room, looking over paperwork. She couldn’t sit at her desk and see Jake every time she looked up. It was too much to handle. Being around him constantly was getting overwhelming. She still couldn’t believe that _he_ was her soulmate.

Sure enough, he walked into the briefing room and laid a bunch of papers in front of her. “Okay, I have a plan,” he started. She was confused. She stared at the papers until they started to make sense. She could see blueprints for their apartment as well as their perp’s apartment.

Jake started to explain in explicit detail his plan to bust their perp. He’d finally cracked it. The dates, the times, the day of the week. People didn’t always give Jake the credit he deserved. He was smart and great at solving puzzles.

“Wait,” Amy said, interrupting him. He stopped and looked at her patiently. “You figured this all out yourself? The plan and everything?”

Jake nodded. “Yeah. I mean I didn’t have much of a choice since you wouldn’t spend more than five minutes with me at a time. So I did it myself.”

Amy felt ashamed. Yes, she’d been shaken to the core over seeing Jake’s mark. And yes, she’d avoided him. It may not have been mature, but it felt right at the time. But Amy couldn’t believe that she’d let this stupid revelation get in the way of her job. Above everything else, she was great at her job. She always liked that she had her job to fall back on when her life wasn’t working as well. And now she’d gone and let her life top her job more than ever before. She couldn’t believe she’d done that to her partner.

“I’m so sorry, Jake,” Amy said, finally looking him in the eye for the first time in days.

Jake shrugged. “Whatever. Just look over the plan. If there’s some obvious flaw, tell me. We’ll fix it and then we’ll run this. Okay?”

Amy nodded. Jake started to leave. She grabbed his hand before he got too far. “Wait, Jake,” he turned and looked at her. She did her best to keep eye contact. “I really am sorry. I’ve been a really crappy partner lately and that’s not fair. I’m sorry.”

Jake held her gaze for a beat before he just nodded and walked out of the room. She threw her hands over her face for a second before turning back to Jake’s plan.

She studied and picked apart every aspect of it, but it seemed solid. The evidence supported his claims of when the next deal would be made. This was some of the best work he’d ever done. She hated that she’d abandoned him to do it. Maybe someday she’d figure out the best way to fully explain it to him.

__

Jake and Amy were waiting in the apartment. They knew they had to wander past the deal as it happened or else it wouldn’t happen. They had to time things perfectly. Backup was set up around the area, ready to set up a perimeter when they said to. Everything was timed and planned out perfectly. Amy wasn’t sure she’d ever been part of a plan that was more thought out and perfectly planned.

They had two minutes. So they left for the alley. Jake turned to her just outside their door. “Are you ready?” Amy nodded.

She’d done her best to push past everything she was feeling. She’d been a better partner to him in the week before the plan was set to go. She felt bad that it had fallen on him to tie up the case. She felt bad that she’d so terribly neglected her job. It wasn’t like her. So she did everything she could to help. She did whatever he asked of her. He seemed pretty distant himself. Their interactions were strictly work related. Part of her heart broke because of it. She didn’t want to lose their whole relationship because she had been a mess.

They locked up their door, walked out of the building. Jake grabbed her hand as they walked. She looked at him curiously. He just squeezed it and mouthed “Cover.” She nodded her understanding. It actually was nice holding his hand. She felt comforted going into this huge sting.

They started chatting to make it seem like they really were just passersby. Jake mentioned something about what they needed from the grocery story as they wound the corner and walked right into a deal. Amy almost smiled. They really had timed it perfectly. The dealer and the buyer looked over quickly.

“Oh, sorry!” Jake said, unassumingly. “Didn’t mean to bother you guys.”

“We’re just heading to our car. Alley’s a nice shortcut,” Amy added.

The buyer looked nervous. The dealer recognized their faces. She could tell. He nodded and smiled as if he wasn’t in the middle of a drug deal. They walked closer as if to pass them. It wasn’t until they were right by the deal that they pulled out their guns.

“NYPD! Put your hands in the air!” They both yelled. Both men shot their hands in the air, dropping the drugs in their hands. Jake went to cuff the dealer while Amy kept her gun trained on the buyer. Jake was feeling the dealer to see if he had more drugs or any weapons on him.

“We have quite a lot of drugs on us, don’t we, Bud?” Jake joked. Amy looked over and shook her head at him, trying to hold back a grin. She looked back at the buyer and barely had time to register the gun he’d pulled before he shot her.

__

The bust had been going perfectly. They got the dealer. They caught a buyer. Everything was going perfectly. Until the gunshot rang out. At first Jake thought Amy had shot the buyer. He looked over at her just in time to see her fall to the ground.

Panic coursed through him. What had happened? It had been so perfect. He shoved the dealer into a sitting position in the alley as he ran to Amy’s side. “Amy! Are you okay? Can you hear me?” He practically yelled at her. He looked back down the alley. The buyer had been running before Jake could even process what happened. Jake knew the perimeter would catch him.

He focused back on Amy. She opened her eyes. She was breathing roughly. He turned to his phone. “We have an officer down. I need an ambulance immediately!” He yelled into the phone. He grabbed her hand. He was thankful when he felt her squeeze his back. He used his other hand to put pressure on her wound. “Amy, talk to me,” he ordered.

“I don’t know what happened,” she rasped. “One second I was looking at you and the next he pulled his gun on me.”

He shook his head. “It’s not your fault.” He was fighting to keep his tears from falling. Her eyes started to close. “No! Amy, stay with me. You’re gonna be fine. Don’t close your eyes. Look at me.” He just kept talking, hoping he could magically help her. She grabbed his hand tighter.

Rosa and Terry ran into the alley and saw Amy laying on the ground. “What the hell happened?” Rosa asked. Jake shook his head. It wasn’t the time for that. He looked over his shoulder to the perp still sitting there.

“Take him to the precinct. I’ll take it from there. I’m not leaving,” he ordered.

Rosa nodded and grabbed the dealer’s arm, helping him up from the ground. She led him off to a patrol car. Terry stood there, watching Jake watch Amy. Jake felt so helpless. It was his plan they went with. She agreed to everything because he’d told her off. He knew what she was doing every time she agreed to a facet of the plan. She was trying to make up for ghosting on him. He should have told her to speak up if something was wrong. But she just went right along with everything. And it got her shot.

He held her hand until the ambulance got there. He squeezed her hand and then released it to get out of the way of the EMTs. They loaded her up quickly and wheeled her into the ambulance. Jake took one look at Terry and then back at Amy. “I’m going with her,” he said. He could tell from Terry’s one nod that he knew there was no swaying Jake’s decision.

Jake tried to stay out of the way of the professionals while he was in the ambulance with them. But at the same time he just wanted to let her know he was there. He wanted to hold her hand again but he would be in the way. So he laid his hand on her ankle, rubbing his thumb back and forth.

He could hear bits and pieces of what they were saying, of orders they were giving. “We need to get a better view of the wound.” He didn’t really process what that would mean but suddenly they were cutting off Amy’s shirt.

He was turning to look away out of respect when he saw it. Right above her heart. Her mark. It was the same as his. Same place, same shape, everything. He couldn’t stop staring at it. He quickly glanced down to his own mark, covered by his shirt.

Everything past that was a blur. Amy had been his soulmate the whole time and he’d never even known. She’d been right there all along. All the times he’d said he didn’t care about finding his soulmate, he’d been saying it _to_ his soulmate. All the times he asked her if she’d found hers, it was really him. All the times he’d looked at her and wished he could be with her, he was looking at his soulmate. Wishing for his soulmate. All the times he’d been left wondering how she had such an effect on him, it was because she was his soulmate.

His breath was shortening. He could feel it. He felt dizzy, like he might pass out. The tears in his eyes returned, finally falling. All this time he could have just been with her but he wasn’t. And now she’d been shot. Why did it take her getting shot for him to find her?

Suddenly they were at the hospital, rushing from the ambulance. He ran into the hospital with them. Someone grabbed his arm and told him that he couldn’t go any further. So he stood there frozen, watching them rush her away. His partner. His friend. His soulmate.

__

She was out of surgery and in a room. They’d let him go in there. He was sitting next to her bed as she laid there unconscious. He was holding her hand again. He just had to be holding part of her. He couldn’t shake the feeling that her shooting was his fault. Plus add his new revelation to the mix and he was just a mess.

He leaned his forehead to her hand. He was willing her to wake up, to be okay. “Please be alright, please be alright, please be alright,” he found himself whispering to her.

A nurse walked in, observing him bent over their joined hands. “Who are you, sir?”

He picked his head up. “I’m her partner.” The nurse nodded in understanding. “I’m also her soulmate.” The nurse paused and looked at him sympathetically. “I had no idea until today,” he explained. He didn’t really know why, but talking about it to someone who didn’t know them felt nice. “I think she knew. But I lied about my mark because my parents messed me up for that kind of stuff. So I lied. And then she got shot. And now I know. And she’s not awake for me to tell her that I know.” The nurse walked over and patted him comfortingly on his shoulder. “I’ve had feelings for her for like a year and she doesn’t even know. And now I find out she’s my soulmate. I should have told her.”

“You know she’s going to be okay, right?” The nurse asked. “She’s expected to make a full recovery.”

Jake nodded. “Yeah. It’s just hard when she’s out like this.”

Not too long after the nurse left, Charles, Rosa, and Terry walked in to check on Amy. “How’s she doing?” Charles asked.

Jake looked over at Amy and then back at the group. “She’s still out but they say she’ll make a full recovery.” A thought dawned on him. “Hey did they catch the shooter?”

They looked at each other in confusion. Rosa looked at Jake. “Wasn’t the dealer the shooter?”

“No, it was the buyer,” Jake explained. “He was headed down the alley toward the south perimeter. Didn’t they catch him?” He saw their faces drop. “What?” he asked heatedly.

“The south perimeter set up late. They didn’t get him,” Terry replied.

Jake threw his head in his hands. “Are you serious?” He asked angrily. “The plan was supposed to go perfectly but they set up late? What the hell?”

Rosa pointed at Amy. “Really? This is the plan going perfectly?”

Jake glared at her. “Obviously not, Rosa. But if the stupid perimeter had set up on time, maybe the rest would have gone perfectly. That was the whole point of a perimeter; in case someone ran.” Jake ran his hands down his face. He couldn’t believe what a debacle this had turned out to be.

“Hey, you got the dealer. That was the main guy you were aiming for,” Charles added, attempting to comfort him.

“That was before Amy got shot,” Jake said.

“I’m sorry, Jake. These things happen,” Terry offered.

“Yeah, like that time I got shot in the butt,” Charles suggested. Jake could tell how down he was when he didn’t even crack a smile at Charles’s story.

They heard rustling from the bed and all turned to look. Amy opened her eyes and saw them. She smiled tightly.

“Hey!” Jake cooed, standing up to get a better look at her. She smiled at him. He couldn’t help but feel lighter already. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” she answered. She tried sitting up more before giving up. “Also sore.”

“Yeah,” Jake replied. “Do you need anything? Water? I can sit your bed up higher for you if you’d like.”

She scrunched her eyes in thought. “Water sounds good for now.”

“Listen, we actually can’t stay very long,” Rosa interrupted. “We need to get back to the precinct but we wanted to make sure Amy was okay.”

“Oh, thanks you guys. I’ll be okay,” she said. “Right?” she asked Jake. He nodded emphatically. They all patted Amy before they left. She looked at Jake. “You should go too.”

He looked at her questioningly. “Why?”

“You need to interrogate the dealer,” she answered.

Jake shook his head. “We can let him stew for a while. We have him dead to rights. It’ll be fine.”

Amy stared at him. “You really can go. It’s okay.”

Jake sat down in his chair next to her bed. He grabbed her hand again and squeezed it gently. “Amy, I’m not going anywhere.” He held her gaze to make sure the point went home.

She smiled appreciatively at him and squeezed his hand in return. “Okay.”

__

Three weeks off had been brutal for Amy. She never needed that much time to herself. Her mom came after she got out of the hospital to take care of her. She didn’t need her mom’s help, but she appreciated the time with her. There were a couple of times that the squad dropped by to check in on her. Thankfully Jake had always stopped by with someone else. She didn’t really know how to act around him yet.

When she came back to work, they had a big celebration for her. They bought her breakfast and had a sign. They all seemed really happy that she was back. She was happy too. Until she sat at her desk. She remembered why it was so hard. She didn’t know where things stood with Jake. Their partnership was off before she’d gotten shot. Their friendship had completely disappeared. And most of it was her fault. She didn’t know how to fix things. Maybe being back at the precinct would help.

The squad had never been more accommodating. And yes, she’d just been shot, but they seemed extra attentive. It was like they thought she’d break at any moment. Especially Jake. He kept watching her. Sometimes she could just feel his gaze on her. She’d look up and half the time he’d look away. But half the time he just kept staring at her. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he never did.

She tried to go about everything the same as always. It started to bother her when people jumped up to get her coffee like she couldn’t do it herself. It started to bother her when people kept watching her as if she was just going to collapse. She knew they meant well, but she couldn’t take it.

“Attention squad!” She called from the middle of the bullpen. “I realize that I came back maybe a bit earlier than you expected. But my doctor said I was healing satisfactorily and that I could return to work. I would appreciate it if everyone could treat me the way they always have. Gina, you haven’t made fun of me once in the last two days and it’s been weird. Rosa, I accidentally called you sweetheart and you just went with it,” Amy explained with a wince. “Guys, I am okay. I am healing. I am just trying to get my work done. I would appreciate if the hovering could stop. Though, I appreciate all of your concern. Speech over,” she concluded.

Everyone seemed to nod understandingly as Amy walked back to her seat. “Hey Amy,” Gina called from her desk. Amy turned around to look at her. “That pant suit is atrocious.”

Amy smiled. “Thank you.” Gina grinned back at her. Amy grabbed a file off her desk, feeling better already. She headed toward the evidence lock up, ready to do work without being watched.

__

Jake listened to Amy’s speech, knowing it was probably aimed at him. He felt bad, but his instincts were to help her. He watched as she walked in the direction of the evidence lock up. He’d been trying to figure out a way tell her that he knew. But she was hurt and he didn’t want to make things worse. She’d been pretty distant and he hated it. Then she came back to work and the first thing he wanted to do was tell her. But he didn’t think that was very smart. He only had so many chances to be alone with her. So he jumped up out of his seat and followed her.

He found her right where he thought she’d be. He closed the door to the lock up and approached her slowly. His palms were getting sweaty. His breath was getting shorter. She turned and saw him. His heart beat faster.

“Oh my God, Jake, did you not get it?” she whined.

“What?” he asked, shaking his head to try to sort out her comment.

“You have been watching me for the past two days and I can’t take it anymore. I’m not fragile. I’m not about to break. I know I got shot right in front of you but I’m okay. Really. I don’t blame you for me getting shot. So please just let me do my job,” Amy pleaded.

Jake just nodded. He didn’t know if now was the time to mention the mark. He started for the door before he froze. He couldn’t ignore it any longer. He’d spent three weeks sitting on the revelation. Plus a year of having feelings for her. He couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted her to know the truth. She could go from there. If their relationship was too damaged then they’d deal with it. But the truth needed to be revealed.

He turned back to her. “It’s not just a birthmark.”

She looked up at him, puzzled. “What?”

“What you saw on my chest as I was changing my shirt. It’s not just a birthmark. It’s my mark. I always lied and said that I never got one because my dad left right before I got it. I never cared about finding my soulmate because they could leave. So when you asked about it, my instinct was to lie. I’m sorry about that. I should have been honest with you,” he explained.

Amy stared at him. She had a look on her face that he didn’t have a word for. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because when you got shot I saw yours. It was in the ambulance and they were checking your wound and I saw it. It was the same as mine. Right over your heart. Just like mine.” There was silence between them. When Jake couldn’t take it any longer, he kept talking. “Look, I know I lied. And I think you knew I was lying. That’s why you were so distant before we tried to pull off that sting. And I know I told you a ton of times that I never cared about finding my soulmate. But that all changed when I knew it was you.”

“Why?” Amy asked.

“Because it’s you,” Jake answered. He could tell that wasn’t enough so he continued. “Because you’re my partner and my friend. And when you laugh at something I say there’s this warmth inside of me. And when you smile at me I feel invincible. Because you’re the best person I know. Because I know you’d never hurt me. But I think mostly because I’ve been hiding the fact that I’ve had feelings for you since before you met Teddy.” He didn’t realize he’d been moving, but he was standing in front of Amy by the end of his speech.

Amy gasped. “Really?” He nodded in reply. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Because you started dating Teddy. And if you were happy, I was happy-ish. And then you broke up and decided you wanted to find your soulmate. I never figured in a million years that it would be me,” Jake replied.

She stepped closer to him. He felt the courage to wrap an arm around her. She reached up and grabbed his shoulders. “I never would have either,” she said, staring at the place where his mark resided under his shirt. “But can I confess something?” He nodded. She looked up and met his eyes. “I’m _so_ happy it’s you.” He couldn’t contain the happiness that overcame him.

He surged forward and kissed her. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she kissed him back. He held her so close as he’s wanted to do for months. Too quickly for his liking, she pulled back, resting her forehead against his. He opened his eyes to see her staring at him. She untangled a hand from his hair and rested it on his cheek.

“We should probably get back to work, shouldn’t we?” Jake asked hesitantly. He didn’t ever want this moment to end.

She sighed. “Probably.”

He turned to leave the evidence lock up and she followed him. He grabbed the handle and started to open the door. “Jake, wait,” she said. He looked back at her. She placed her hand on the door and pushed it shut. He looked at her, puzzled. She smirked and kissed him again. She pulled back quickly with a smile. “Just one for the road,” she explained.

He shook his head humoredly, still in disbelief that it was all happening. They walked back to the bullpen.

Terry jumped up from his desk. “There you guys are!” Jake and Amy turned to look at him. “They caught your guy.”

Amy looked confused. “What guy?”

“The buyer who shot you,” Jake explained.

“Oh good!” Amy exclaimed.

“So where is he?” Jake asked, looking at the holding cell.

“Rosa’s interrogating him now,” Terry replied.

“What? Why Rosa? You should have called us,” Jake argued. Amy nodded.

Terry laughed. He pointed at Amy. “You’re the victim.” He pointed to Jake. “And you’re way too close to this. Rosa’ll be just fine.”

Jake was antsy waiting at his desk. He kept bouncing his knee. He kept hoping Rosa would walk out and ease his anxiety. Finally Amy walked over and sat in his perp chair. She reached over and stilled his knee. “Please stop bouncing. It’ll be okay. Rosa’s gonna get him to confess. It’s Rosa. Besides, we set up the feed before the sting so we’d get it all on camera. We have him on camera shooting me. We have him dead to rights, Jake.”

Jake looked at Amy. She was right. “I know you’re right. This guy just can’t get away.”

She smiled at him. “He won’t.”

It wasn’t twenty minutes later when Rosa strolled into the bullpen. She was laying something on her desk when Jake jumped out of his chair. Amy looked over her way too. Rosa looked up to see the two of them looking at her anxiously. She nodded once. “We got him. Full confession.”

Jake exhaled heavily, sitting back in his chair. “Thank you, Rosa.”

Amy smiled at Jake across their desks. “See? What did I say?”

Jake looked horrified. “Oh no. Is the “I told you so” already starting?”

Amy laughed. “Like it didn’t start years ago.”

__

Amy found a booth in the corner of the bar and Jake was bringing her drinks. He smiled at her as he set her drink down in front of her. He slid in next to her and she curled into his side. She was already so comfortable with him. She liked to think it was the years of knowing each other first. He wrapped his arm around her as he took a drink of his beer. She sighed. “I can’t believe Terry was right.”

“About what? That Rosa would crack the guy?”

“What? No. That I’d already met my soulmate,” Amy answered.

Jake laughed. “What can you say? Sarge is a wise man.” She nodded at that. “Besides, I think it’s easier.” Amy stared at him, confusion on her face. “We don’t have to get to know each other. It’s so much easier.”

Amy nodded happily. “That’s true. I already know your annoying habits,” she added with a laugh. Jake shook his head at her with a grin. He leaned over and kissed the side of her head.

She still couldn’t really believe it. She still had a hard time believing that he was hers. Her soulmate was this wacky, immature, loveable, amazing, wonderful man. She didn’t know how she got so lucky. She didn’t know how it was possible that her best friend ended up as her soulmate. She felt like she should apologize to fate for all the times she’d cursed it.

She wrapped her arm around his torso and hugged him closer to her. He looked down at her with stars in his eyes. She leaned up and kissed him. He wove his hand into her hair and deepened their kiss. They kept kissing for a while until they heard someone clear their throat.

They broke apart to see Rosa, Gina, and Charles standing in front of them. Charles looked stupidly happy. Gina looked confused. Rosa looked disgusted. “What the hell is this?” Rosa asked.

“Yeah? And when did it happen?” Gina demanded.

“And don’t leave out any details,” Charles added.

“Umm…” Jake said, looking over at Amy. She just shrugged. “It kinda happened today.”

The three of their friends gaped at them.

Amy stared at Jake, almost asking for permission. He just nodded. She looked back at their friends. “So um…Jake and I are soulmates,” Amy said awkwardly.

“What?” Charles actually screamed. Rosa punched him. Jake and Amy nodded.

“Wait, I thought you didn’t have a mark,” Gina asked.

Jake laughed. “Yeah, um, I lied.”

Gina slid in the booth next to Jake and punched him on the arm. “I can’t believe you.”

Rosa slid in next to Amy as Charles put his phone to his ear, sliding in next to Gina. “Sarge, It’s Charles Boyle from work. You need to get down to Shaw’s bar _immediately_. Bye!”

Not two minutes later Terry was standing in front of their booth. They all looked shocked. “I was already parking,” he explained.

Charles was practically bouncing in his seat. “Guess what Sarge?” Terry was about to answer before Charles cut him off. “Amy found her soulmate!” Charles yelled.

Terry looked over at Amy with a mixture of surprise and happiness. “What? What is his name? Where did you meet him?” He asked excitedly.

Jake spoke before Amy even could. “Well his name is Jake Peralta and it’s kind of a long story,” Jake replied with a grin.

Terry stared at them in disbelief. Amy shrugged. “You were right, Sarge, I’d already met him,” Amy added.

Terry smiled hugely. He sat down next to Rosa. “Well, well, well.” He raised Rosa’s beer. “To Amy and Jake, soulmates!” Amy and Jake laughed while the others cheered. Jake leaned over and kissed her head. She hugged him tighter.

Fate was weird. It let you believe that things would never happen. It let you believe that you’d never get the timing right. It let you suffer and hate everything. It let you give up hope. It let you find comfort in friends. It let you grow closer to them. It let you see that everything would work out in the end no matter how many times you denied it. It let you see that sometimes you can actually get the timing right. And as Amy looked around at her friends with her soulmate next to her, she figured she got the timing just right.

**Author's Note:**

> What did you think?  
> This was by far the longest one shot I've ever written!
> 
> Come and chat with me on tumblr. I'm three-drink-amy!


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